Chimps & Bonobos

These are humans’ two closest living relatives, both sharing almost 99% of the human genome through common descent

Bonobos and chimpanzees diverged from each other around 2 million years ago and differ in morphology, behavior, and perhaps even emotions and cognition in important ways.

The
Bonobo

Bonobos are female dominant, with females forming tight bonds against males through same-sex socio-sexual contact that is thought to limit aggression. In the wild, they have not been seen to cooperatively hunt, use tools, or exhibit lethal aggression.

The Chimpanzee

Chimpanzees are male dominant, with intense aggression between different groups that can be lethal. Chimpanzees use tools, cooperatively hunt monkeys, and will even eat the infants of other chimpanzee groups.

Bonobos and Chimpanzees share close to 99% of their genome in common with humans, meaning that their genomes are more similar to that of humans than they are to that of gorillas. However, it may be that Bonobos, whose psychology is virtually unstudied relative to that of chimpanzees, are more similar to humans than are chimpanzees in how they solve various social problems (e.g. Hare, Melis, Woods, Hastings, & Wrangham, 2007). Such similarities may even be partly the result of shared and heritable neurophysiology that potentially regulates the social emotions of humans and Bonobos in similar ways (Hammock & Young, 2005).

Bonobos (Pan paniscus)

Chimps (Pan troglodytes)

physiology

slender build, bright pink lips, black face

obust build, facecolour changes with age, dark lips

ecological environment

Democratic Republic of Congo

South of the Congo river

Across West- and Central Africa, remaining populations distributed over
several countries.

sexual dimorphism

few sex differences

high sex differences

social organization

Fission-fusion-societies

larger parties that chimps

live in 'communities' of multiple males and females and their offspring

mother-son- and female-female-bonds very important

Fission-fusion-societies

live in 'communities' of multiple males and females and their offspring